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Saturday, July 30, 2011

Bethany Lopez: The IAN Interview

Bethany Lopez was born in Detroit, Michigan, and grew up in Michigan and San Antonio, Texas. She went to High School at Dearborn High, in Dearborn, Michigan, which is where she has set her Young Adult novel. She is married and has a blended family with five children. She is currently serving in the United States Air Force as a Recruiter in South Carolina. She has always loved to read and write and has seen her dream realized by independently publishing her first novel through Amazon with CreateSpace and Kindle Direct Publishing. Ta Ta for Now! is also now available through Smashwords at Barnes and Noble.com.

IAN. Please tell us about Ta Ta for Now!

B.L. Melissa begins her freshman year with one goal in mind, getting Brian Jackson to be her boyfriend. She will soon learn that things don't necessarily turn out the way you plan them, the value of true friendship, and the importance of family.

IAN. How long did it take to write the book?

B.L. 6 weeks for the initial draft, then I edited and had others edit. From start to publish was 10 months.

IAN. What inspired you to write the book?

B.L. I have always loved to write. This book was inspired by memories and my family.

IAN. Talk about the writing process. Do you write at night or in the morning?

B.L. I wrote at night and on weekends when I wasn’t at work.

IAN. Did you use an outline or do you just wing the first draft?

B.L. No outline. I just started writing.

IAN. How is your book different from others in your genre?

B.L. I think my book is more reminiscent of books I read when I was growing up.

IAN. Is Ta Ta for Now! published in print, e-book or both?

B.L. Both

IAN. What do you hope your readers come away with after reading your book?

B.L. I hope they enjoy the characters and that they feel the emotions that the characters are feeling. I hope they can relate to the characters.

I always hear people say that they wish they had lots of brothers and sisters. I guess they are lonely because they are only children or their siblings are older. They cannot possibly understand the magnitude of what they are saying. If they knew what it was like to be the oldest of four children, they would thank their lucky stars, shut their mouths and be grateful for the peace and quiet.

My name is Melissa (don’t call me Missy) and I am fourteen years old. I live in Dearborn, Michigan, with my mother and father and my brother and sisters. Yes, my parents are still together and have been married for sixteen years. I know, it is weird, but they seem to be happy. Of course they have me to help with all of the things that they don’t want to do. (Did I mention that I am the oldest?) Not to sound ungrateful, I love my parents (and occasionally my siblings), but sometimes I just want to go into my room and be left alone for twenty-four hours. Just one day, that is all I am asking; it doesn’t seem like an unreasonable request!

So, my sister Megan, who is twelve, gave me this journal for my birthday. She said that maybe if I write down my thoughts, I won’t talk so much. (She is the queen of the backhanded compliment). I never had a journal before and I like the idea of having somewhere to express my thoughts and feelings.I don’t know how much I should say, because I would hate for someone in my family to find it and read it! Anyway, as I was saying, my birthday was yesterday and tomorrow is my first day of high school. I am nervous, but so glad that it is finally here, I feel like I have been waiting to be out of middle school forever!

It has been a fun summer and I have enjoyed working on my tan, but my best friend went away to visit her dad for the summer and I can’t wait to see her again. I am ready to get back to school and show everyone how much I have grown over the summer! My hair is longer, I think I have grown at least an inch, and I (finally!!!) have started to develop in the way that only girls do. Did I mention I have a fantastic tan? It seems like it has taken forever, but I am finally starting to like the way I look! With a little makeup and the right outfit, I plan to knock Brian Jackson’s socks off. I vow to make him notice me this year!

I am getting ahead of myself. I wanted to start off explaining how my crazy family functions, not jump right into my plan to make Brian Jackson mine!

So, I told you about my unconventionally normal parents, Craig and Linda. He works at Detroit Diesel and she is a teacher at Dearborn High. (Yes that is the school that I start tomorrow; the one dark spot on my sunny day!). They were high school sweethearts, went to CentralMichiganUniversity together, got married, and started having enough children to start a basketball team. Their proudest moment was, of course, the day I was born. I don’t know why they didn’t stop there and realize that I was all they would ever need, but they didn’t, and next came Megan.

Megan is alright. She will be in seventh grade this year and is a total tomboy. I mean, the girl does not know the meaning of good hygiene. She is always running around and playing some sport, and doesn’t care if she leaves the house without brushing her hair, let alone taking a shower. She can be embarrassing sometimes, but for the most part she is tolerable.

So, they had two girls, you would think that would be enough… not for Craig and Linda, they had to keep having kids, and along came number three, Mikey; who is a nine year old pain in the neck. He always gets what he wants because he is the son, and gets away with murder! He is the only boy in the family and therefore runs around like he owns the place. He is always breaking stuff and blaming it on the rest of us. He makes faces behind our parents backs and it just an all-around brat.

Finally, my parents had the accident that they called Monica (Yes, they have a weird obsession with the letter M). Don’t get me wrong, Monica is cute. She doesn’t get in my way, and she doesn’t break my stuff, which is pretty good for a five year old. I just don’t understand why my parents felt the need to keep having kids.

Was I not enough for them? I am cute, funny, and a lot of fun to be around. We could have had a great time together without all of the fighting and craziness that comes with having four kids! I can’t see the up side of that many kids in one house! Think of the amount of laundry (I know because I have to do it) and how much they could save on groceries if they had stopped after me! Oh well, there is nothing that can be done about it now; although, I often fantasize about them dropping Mikey off at a fire station somewhere and saying they found a lost child. It just doesn’t look like that is ever going to happen!

Okay, enough about them, I think you get the idea! Now, let’s get to the important stuff, like what to wear on my first day of school!

Mom picked me up a couple of cute tops and jeans, but I don’t know if I want to wear jeans or a dress, or maybe a skirt. I want to look killer and make a good impression. To do that I need to wear something that makes me feel good. Maybe I will wear something blue. I have noticed that Brian wears blue a lot; maybe that is his favorite color. Let me tell you a little about Brian… he is tall, with dark hair and blue eyes. He is on the swim team and the football team. He is so totally dreamy and seems like a really nice guy. I had him in my P.E. class last year, but I didn’t get to talk to him much, because he was always participating in sports and games, and I was always doing my best not to participate in sports and games. I watched him though, and he always seemed like someone that I would get along really well with. His eyes are so beautiful; it is like looking into crystal blue water! And his smile, Oh My God! His teeth are perfect and white (he must have had braces) and his smile just lights up the whole room. Did I mention he is totally hot? I cannot wait to see him tomorrow!

OK, I think that is enough for my first entry! I need make sure I have everything in my book bag and get my clothes situation figured out for tomorrow! I will write tomorrow and let you know how my day goes!